only believe
Scripture Reading: Mark 5:21-43
(to listen to the sermon, click the button above)
This week in the Gospel of Mark we have Jesus dealing with two females. One of which has been ill for 12 years, the other is a 12 year old girl who is sick to the point of death.
Jesus dealing with two women would have drawn some attention to the readers of the Gospel of Mark. Since Jesus was not related to either of them, he should not be touching or talking with them. It would have raised some eyebrows to say the least. And that’s just the start of it.
Last week Jesus was teaching people from a boat as they stood on the shoreline. And he was teaching them about the kingdom of God through parables. In particular he was teaching them using parables about seeds.
After he taught them they took the boat to the other side of the sea, and there he cast demons out of a man. After which he crossed back over the sea, where it seems a great crowd of people were waiting. read more…
seeds
Scripture Reading: Mark 4:1-34
Today we’ve moved on from the healing stories we’ve been reading the last couple of weeks. Now we’re looking at what Jesus is beginning to teach those who are following him as disciples, and what he is teaching those who are crowding around him.
Jesus is choosing to teach the crowd through parables. And there are a couple we are looking at today. The main focus of our passage is on the parable of the sower, the one who casts seeds 
on to various types of ground.
The last few weeks where we’ve focused on the healing ministry of Jesus which has attracted huge crowds, as we have seen. Now Jesus is taking the opportunity to start teaching them.
We skipped from Mark chapter 2 to chapter 4 this week, and what we missed in chapter 3 was more healing stories, and Jesus completing the calling of his 12 disciples. But also in the healing stories in chapter 3 we read of the pharisees beginning to plot to take Jesus out of the picture. They’ve seen enough of his work to perceive him as a threat, and are starting to worry about how this will impact their lives. So the plot begins to find ways to kill him. read more…
questions
Scripture Reading: Mark 2:1-22
You know the old saying, “it’s like drinking water from a firehose”?
Well it’s like that when you read the Gospel of Mark. Last week we looked all the stories covered in the 25 verses we read, and this week we read another 22 verses and there’s a bunch more stories of Jesus. In reality there’s only two events happening, but it’s just crammed with things that we can easily over look.
There’s the healing of the paralytic, which takes up roughly half our reading this morning. Then Jesus calls Levi (who’s later known as Matthew) the tax collector to follow him. Then Jesus was invited to dinner at Levi’s home, which then led to a series of interactions with the scribes, and also some other people we aren’t exactly sure who they are with.
Again with Mark, we cover a lot of ground in just a few verses, and I probably could have pulled three sermons out of this text alone. But, we’ll keep up with the readings prescribed and follow along as best we can.
Even while Mark moves us through these stories at an incredibly rapid pace, we need to be careful to slow down and make sure we’re picking up on the points which are being made along the way.
In today’s reading there were three questions asked of Jesus. Did you pick up on them? read more…
Jesus Christ, the Son of God
Scripture Reading: Mark 1:21-45
Before we dig into our reading from the second half of Mark 1 this morning, we should take a quick look at the very start of the gospel. What did we skip over as we move into a new book of the Bible we’ll be focusing on for the next few months.
The gospel of Mark lays out its underlying theme for the entirety of the book with the very first line, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
There’s no mystery, Mark gets right to the point. He states plainly who Jesus is, then he jumps into the story. Beginning with John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus. Then the calling of the first disciples.
All this happens in the first 20 verses of the gospel of Mark. This guy doesn’t waste any time, he gets right to the point, and he moves the story along without any delay! read more…
#aSaviourIsBorn
Scripture Reading: Luke 2:8-14
There’s just something about this season isn’t there?
And there’s just something about tonight too.
Everything we have been planning for is done! No more shopping to do. Maybe we have a little wrapping left to take care of. The food is bought, we just need to prepare it. The tree is up, the decorations are hung. Almost all of us don’t have to work tomorrow (a BIG thank you to those who work tomorrow to keep us safe, BTW).
I hope that all the pressure of the last few weeks have been kind to you. That your stress levels have been low, and you’ve been able to enjoy the season of preparation.
And now it’s time to take a deep breath and relax.
I’m on the roads a lot of evenings for meetings or whatever, and most nights are quiet it seems. But tonight is a little extra quiet, a little more special feeling. Somehow it’s hard to explain, but it’s true isn’t it! You feel it too, am I right?
Tonight just seems so peaceful. As if the world is waiting for something…
So what are you waiting for?
Some time ago a young man and his wife were taking a long, long trip to a far away town. They had some business to take care of, despite the fact the young woman was very pregnant.
When they arrived, it seems the town was sold out, there was no room in any of the hotels.
The young woman begins to experience contractions, the baby is coming! Here? Why here!? Why would it have to be now? In this place, of all places, why here and now?
Panicking they need to find a place, somewhere safe where the baby could be born… and there’s only one place they can find.
It’s a small barn on the edge of town.
In this inconvenient place, at this most inconvenient time, the child is born.
In the Old Testment, written long before this night, the prophet Micah writes,
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
from ancient times.” (Micah 5:2)
This child was born right where he was supposed to be born, in the town of Bethlehem.
This child is no ordinary child. This child, as Micah prophesied is the one who will be ruler over Israel. He will be the one God promised. He is the Messiah, the Saviour of the world.
Timothy Keller, a theologian, pastor and writer from New York, shared this yesterday,
“Christmas is an invitation to know Christ personally. Christmas is an invitation by God to say: Look what I’ve done to come near to you. Now draw near to Me. I don’t want to be a concept; I want to be a friend.”
This child has come to for you so that you will know God as more than a man in the sky. This child has come so you will know God as a friend, someone you can trust, someone you can depend on, someone who will be there for you through thick and thin.
All by being born in the unlikeliest of circumstances. This child is God among us. Many prophesies have been spoken in the Bible, in the Old Testament, and they have come true in this child.
This child is a gift from God, one who wishes to speak to our hearts, to bring us love, peace, joy and hope. All of these things God wishes to share with us when we know him as friend.
Tonight IS a special night. It’s a night where a Saviour is born. Your Saviour is born.
Tonight let us remember this life changing gift of love from God who seeks us out in a manger, far, far away. With parents who are far from home. Young parents, feeling lost and overwhelmed as they give birth to their child not in a hospital, or even a hotel. There’s no mid-wife, no family to turn to for help. They are truly alone in giving birth to their son.
Yet not for long.
God sends them visitors. He sends them shepherds made aware of the birth by a choir of angels.
Surely this is a special child. A child who will change the world, not by coming to a palace to be with royalty and leaders. But as one born in a barn, sleeping in a feeding trough, and visited by lowly shepherds.
He is God among us. He is one who has come for us.
And his name is Jesus.
And he is the Saviour of the world.
The Saviour for you.
This Christmas, embrace the love of God made known in this gift from God. A gift you can’t find under a tree. A gift you can only receive when you accept God is offering it to you.
Tonight we celebrate this gift, not wrapped in paper and bows, but wrapped in a blanket lying in a manger.
Merry Christmas, this gift is for you.